International

Convicted murderer executed in Mississippi

AFP

A 50-year-old man convicted of murdering his estranged wife and sexually assaulting his step-daughter was executed on Wednesday in the southern US state of Mississippi, local media said.

David Cox, a former truck driver, was put to death by lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.

“I want my children to know that I love them very much and that I was a good man at one time,” Cox said in his last words, according to state department of corrections commissioner Burl Cain, the Clarion Ledger newspaper reported.

“Don’t ever read anything but the King James bible. I want to thank the commissioner for being so very kind to me. And that’s all I got to say,” Cox reportedly said.

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In 2009, Cox’s wife Kim Cox told police that Cox had sexually assaulted her daughter from a previous relationship.

Cox spent nine months in prison before being released on bond.

After his release, he bought a handgun and broke into a home where Kim Cox was staying with their two young sons and her daughter.

After shooting his estranged wife, Cox sexually assaulted his then 12-year-old step-daughter in front of her dying mother.

Cox was sentenced to death in 2012 after pleading guilty to murder, sexual assault and other charges.

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Three years ago, Cox began writing to the courts to ask that his lawyers, who were seeking to halt his execution, be fired and that his execution be allowed to go ahead.

In one letter, he described himself as a “guilty man worthy of death.”

In another, he asked a judge to set a date to “execute my body for crimes of in which I did committ (sic) in premeditation, anger and joy.”

The Mississippi Supreme Court agreed with evaluations that Cox was mentally competent and a date was set for his execution.

Kim Cox’s daughter told the Daily Journal newspaper that she intended to attend the execution.

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Cox was the 10th person executed in the United States this year and the first since 2012 in Mississippi.

The state has faced difficulties for several years in obtaining the drugs used to carry out executions by lethal injection.

Many pharmaceutical laboratories refuse to sell the products to US states that intend to use them for capital punishment.

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.